In a Twist, Begich Outraises Stevens

It's the 16th, which means we've just passed the mandatory mid-month campaign finance reporting deadline. As such, we now have hard numbers on how much the Stevens and Begich campaigns have managed to raise, as well as how much money they have in the bank at this point. In a surprising reversal of a 40-year trend, Mayor Begich has managed to raise nearly triple the amount of money Senator Stevens has. Begich raised roughly $1.3 million in the last fundraising period (Aug. 7 to Sept. 30) to Stevens' half-million. However, despite losing this battle, Stevens is still using his immense war chest to narrowly hold on to the overall financial lead; his campaign has $1.2 million cash-on-hand to Begich's sub-$800,000. However, if these fundraising trends continue or become even more expressed, as they are likely to, Stevens will not be able to count on an overall monetary advantage much longer.

This is the first time in nearly four decades that Stevens has been out-fundraised. Stevens has seen many of his decades-old electoral firewalls breached in this election, from his spotless legal record to his previously unshakable popularity in the Alaskan political establishment. The loss of his financial advantage is one more leak in a boat that seems to be taking on more water each day.

Also, as a brief follow-up to my previous coverage of Mrs. Stevens' importance, she took the stand today. Check it out.